The PGA Championship will "bring in record revenue this week at Charlotte’s Quail Hollow, as sales have skyrocketed by a whopping" 40% over last year’s event held at Baltusrol Golf Club, according to John Lombardo of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. PGA of America Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Price said this week will be the "most successful PGA Championship in terms of revenue." Charlotte is a first-time host of the tourney, and PGA of America officials "mapped out a plan that revolved around new ticket pricing tiers, additional hospitality inventory, and a new secondary ticketing deal to its premier event." The strategy includes a "new weekly ticketing package and a new high-end hospitality offering called the Green Mile Club." Both the weeklong packages, "priced at $295," and championship round tickets are "sold out." Revenue also is being driven by "demand for premium products, including the new offering in the Green Mile Club," where an "undisclosed number of all-inclusive weekly tickets priced at $6,000 have been sold." In addition, weekly tickets to the Wanamaker Club, a "sports bar-like club, are sold out." Corporate hospitality products, which "range from $500,000 for the largest all-inclusive tents to the $600 Wanamaker Club, have also set sales records with more than 100 corporate clients both locally and nationally buying into the tournament" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/7 issue). In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg wrote by "adding such stellar sales to Quail Hollow's established credentials with players, who have embraced the annual Wells Fargo Championship since it debuted" in '03, the prospect of more majors in the future "seems all but guaranteed." Charlotte-based sports marketing agency Signature Sports Group Principal Steve Hall said, "How can you not talk about it when you've shattered every record?" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/4).
THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN: In Charlotte, Scott Fowler wrote Quail Hollow Club President Johnny Harris is the "power broker, real estate king, born salesman and gregarious host behind the PGA Championship." He will "marry off two of his great passions this week -- golf at the very highest level and Quail Hollow Club." While Charlotte has "hosted big-time professional golf for years," it has "never seen a tournament quite like this." For those familiar "only with the way the Wells Fargo tournament runs, this one will be far different." Harris: "Every aspect of it is enlarged. The media outlets that will cover the event, the concession stands, the viewing areas, the hospitality -- way, way larger. And the number of people ... 50,000 is what we’re hearing (per day), and we’d have 30-35,000 at Wells Fargo. Everything has changed." Fowler noted if this major goes well for Charlotte, the PGA Championship "could return sometime in the 2020s" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/6). Spanberg in a special to SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL notes the PGA Tour already "placed another bet on Quail Hollow" in '15 when it "chose the Charlotte club" for the '21 Presidents Cup. Presidents Cup Chair Charlie Zink "pointed to Harris’ leadership as an important factor." Zink: "I don’t think there’s any better golf course or nicer golf club anywhere, arguably, than Quail Hollow. And the investment that Johnny has made in that club to keep taking it to higher and higher standards is second to none. The golf course speaks for itself" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/7 issue).
